Best MacBook Pro for my needs

I know there's tons of talk on this topic but I want to see if I can narrow it down to my specific needs.
I'm debating between the high end 13" rMBP (standard config) vs high end 15" (i7' 16gb, 512gb, 750m)
My primary use will be web design and heavy Lightroom/Aperture use. Occasional Photoshop use.
I plan on adding a 24" external display to use while at home, which will be 80% of the time.
Would I see any degradation with the 13" being only 8gb RAM and no upgraded GPU, with the fact I'll be using a ext monitor a lot?
I know the 15" is also more future proof with the 16gb RAM knowing I can't upgrade it, but I'll probably buy a new laptop in 2yrs, so not sure if the upgraded RAM is a necessity for my use.
Much appreciated.

No way.
You will benefit from the extra screen real estate, and RAM is the best bang for your buck esp in light of your use "web design and heavy Lightroom/Aperture use. Occasional Photoshop"
As you know in web design you have a lot of programs going at once,
Photo editing and processes second only to video editing.
Even with 16GB of RAM I have to reboot at max 30 days to clear the slate.
The Mac Pro might  be overkill : http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/

Similar Messages

  • Best macbook pro for gopro editing

    hi. i am new to the editing world and would like to get a macbook pro, i would use it for homevideo editing from a gopro, holding music and possibly watching the odd movie on it.
    i have no clue on what sort of macbook pro id need but id like a retina display?  what are the pros and cons of retina? and i would also like the macbook pro to not be slow or lag or crash while im edititng.
    so if someone out there could write back with exact specifications to what they think would be the best macbook pro for me that would be great.
    thanks
    Ross

    The best one is the model without the word "Book" in it... 
    You don't say what you want to edit, but in general, editing is a horsepower game so you'll want a lot of RAM, a fast system disk/SSD and the fastest processors and video board available. Don't expect to do much on the battery because all those resources (plus your external media drives) will severely limit your battery life.
    You may also want an external monitor and plan on either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt external drives for media and scratch storage. The bigger, the better.
    Hope this helps

  • What is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

    what is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

    It is the GPU that is important.  All the CPU's will be fast enough.  If you can affords it, the 15" with the NVIDIA GPU is the best.
    Ciao.

  • Which macbook pro for my needs, please...

    Buying a new macbook pro for use with photoshop and lightroom, possibly a bit of illustrator and indesign thrown in.
    I will use my laptop at home always attached to a large screen. Right now a 25" NEC. I may add an additional screen as well, so I might have two screens besides the laptop, one attached via hdmi.
    Right now I don't do video work. No gaming concerns for me. Photoshop and Lightroom the bulk of my work. Big catalog. Large size photoshop files. Well near 1 gb sometimes.
    Will the mbp with just the intel iris pro graphics card be enough for my uses? I'm thinking to upgrade processor to 2.5ghz. Will upgrade ssd to 500gb. Or do I need, will I benefit from the nvidia card and card switching, dgpu?
    I've just been reading about problems with the discrete graphics card version. And that the mbp always uses that card when there is an external monitor attached. Creates additional heat for the computer.
    Just looking for some advice before i hand over the cash. There is only a 100 difference in price so in the end I'm not concerned about cost. Just want a computer to do what I need, do it well, and for me to have as few problems as possible.
    thanks for advice...

    I have an early 2011 MBP 13" that I put a 120 GB SSD and 8 GB or RAM in. All from OWC.
    Photoshop CS 6 boots in 3.4 seconds.
    Look at the Photoshop Action Test benchmarks at OWC:
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Mac_Memory_Upgrade_Performance_Testi ng
    Of the newer Retina MBPs the largest SSD is 512 GB and that's going to be PCIe. In the 13" 2.8 GHz and above you can add a 1 TB for an extra $500/
    "I've just been reading about problems with the discrete graphics card version."
    I think that's just the 15 and 17" MBP 2011 MBP. There was finally a recall on those.
    https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
    Personally I'm partial to the refurbed 2012 MBP with the standard SATA connectors. Known performer, easy to swap in another drive.
    You also might want to look here and ask your question there:
    OS X Yosemite

  • Best MacBook Pro for video editing

    Any suggestions - I would like to purchase a MacBook Pro but I want to some video editing with it -which is the one to look at?  Thanks

    The best one is the model without the word "Book" in it... 
    You don't say what you want to edit, but in general, editing is a horsepower game so you'll want a lot of RAM, a fast system disk/SSD and the fastest processors and video board available. Don't expect to do much on the battery because all those resources (plus your external media drives) will severely limit your battery life.
    You may also want an external monitor and plan on either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt external drives for media and scratch storage. The bigger, the better.
    Hope this helps

  • Best Macbook Pro for Adobe Creative Suite?

    I'm going to be purchasing a Macbook Pro - 15 in. base model. Was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade the processor at all. I don't need the extra memory since I'll be mainly working off of an external hard drive. I have a 2010 iMac right now that runs an 3.2ghz i3 so it can get over wokred pretty easy, but still runs fairly smoothly. Just wondering what the general consensus was on specs for a Macbook Pro. Thank you.

    Yes, 500 gb is okay. I realize that flash storage is expensive. I have used up most of my 1T flash up, but you will be okay with 500gb as long as your executables are on it. I also use adobe Create Cloud and Apple iCloud to manage and sync my projects (the ones that create money). I have 3T of extra external storage which I use for backups another 5T external raid 5 I use for database management. I keep the 1T splash based Mac Book Pro for travel. Remember that whatever you put on external memory will need to be backup on yet another drive or cloud to keep redundancy.
    If you want to stay portable use MacBookPro Retina (Photography) with as much primary memory and storage that you can afford. Add a 1T external drive (small and light to carry with he Mac). 7200-rpm or faster. You will drop
    If portability is not a problem, go iMac 27, 3T onboard, 32 GB primary memory with 2 g on the graphics card. You are going to drop 3K on either choice.
    I would not be without Retina display. I also recommend you have a good APC to plug into when you are using battery power. Add $600-800 APC for the protection.

  • Best macbook pro for lightroom 5 and CS photoshop

    I have lightroom 5 and CS photoshop and am about to buy one of the new 13" macbook pro.  Which is the best one for these applications

    You are welcome.  Just finished a chat session with an Apple support rep and confirmed the matte option no longer available.  Seems lots has changed since I bought my 17” 19 months back:).  They did say that there were after market screen films available from places like amazon
    Have never used anything like that though.  My wife has a 2008 MBP 15” with gloss and I can say it is a nice screen finish, you just have to be careful of lighting from behind you.  All my iMacs were glossy and I did learn to compensate for the added brilliance the screen brought to the photos.  The new soft proofing feature of LR5 seems to better estimate the level of brightness of the printed work, compared to past versions of the s/ware.
    In any case, in my opinion you really can’t go wrong with the apple product.  I bought my first iMac in mid 1999 and have never looked back.  I donated that machine to a pre-school in 2008, it was running OSX version 2 or 3 I think.  I did run Photoshop 7.0 on an IBM laptop for a time (windows XP).  I think I had one of the very first versions of Adobe Camera Raw on that machine.  I digress, sorry.
    The chat representative did confirm that the 17” is out of production and I’m guessing Apple found the market for the big laptop just wasn’t there.  They did mention that 17” MBP’s show up as “certified refurbished” units from time to time.  Suggest you might explore that option with a local Apple store in the UK, assuming  Apple has store front operations off this continent of course.
    Please feel free to contact me with further questions if you wish.
    Take care, Gordy

  • What is the best Macbook Pro for 3Ds Max?

    I've been searching the ideal laptop for my job. My software is Autodesk 3DS Max. I know it's for Windows but my friends use the same software and they're using Macbook Pro bootcamp as well but it crashed every now & then. I need a laptop that is light weight, has a video card and a screen that is perfect for graphics. Reviews on the Macbook Pro Retina are quite positive but I read about the ghost screen, lags etc. :-/

    The 13 inch wont do you much good in terms of Graphic rendering and transcoding for the following apps, AutoCAD, FCS, Premiere CS5.  The 15" however has a dedicated GPU and also an integrated GPU, if I were you I would go for the high-end 15" Macbook Pro.  Just look at the specs.....
    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MTM3NjU5Mz U

  • Best Macbook Pro for a college art student?

    Why hello everyone
    I'm currently a student in college who recently hit a dilemma. I currently own a Dell XPS M1530 from when I was Biology major... however, I recently switched to Art, and I'm beginning to find that I would like to add a Macbook Pro to my collection (I'm keeping my Dell, it's my child lol).
    However, I have NO CLUE where to start.
    All I know is that I'm paying for this myself, and I'm going to (hopefully) get a payment plan.
    This Macbook Pro will be running Final Pro (hopefully) and part of the Adobe collection.
    Any suggestions?
    And should I look at refurb models?

    Welcome!
    However, I have NO CLUE where to start
    The best place to start--at least in Apple Discussions--is in the area for the current MacBook Pros, here:
    http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=251
    The area you posted in is for older MBPs (two years old and older), so people with newer models more like you are looking to buy will be in the other forum. There have been a number of improvements since the MBPs in this forum were released.
    The info site for MBPs that CMCSK posted are a great start for comparing features. So is this:
    http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-compare.html
    If you are going into Art, you may wish to consider a 15- or 17-inch MBP with the nVidea 330M dedicated graphics chipset instead of the 320M installed in the 13-inch. You should also visit an Apple Store or reseller and see whether you prefer the matte (called "antiglare" in the spec comparison sheet) or glossy display. Most people doing color-critical work seem to gravitate to the matte version.

  • What is the best MacBook Pro for me? (Budget = 1500$)

    Hello guys, I am looking forward for buying a new MacBook Pro. But I don't know which one. I want a 13 inch model that can run very good. In 2010 I bought a MacBook White and I should probably say that it was worth every penny I spent. I loved it so much but this year the trackpad would not move, lagging is an issue but it still works fine now. I want to buy a new MacBook Pro that is good.
    I will use it for the following :
    - Microsoft Word / google docs
    - Photoshop
    - Game programming
    - Gaming (League of Legends, Football Manager 2014/15/16/17)
    - Programming
    - Researching ( EXTREMELY IMPORTANT)
    - Homework
    - And personal use (Facebook, and surfing the web)
    My budget is 1500$, okease answer as fast as you can!!

    givemethemac,
    if you still have your white MacBook, then it seems like fixing its trackpad and installing more RAM and/or replacing its hard disk with a SSD would cost significantly less than $1500. It sounds as though if the trackpad were fixed and the lagging were resolved, that you would still be happy to use it.

  • Best Macbook Pro for use with FCP X for the money?

    I am on a budget, but don't want to be frustrated with FCP X being slow or crashing. What Macbook pro configuration would you recommend? I'm currently considering 4 15" configurations that are below, but am open to any suggestions. I figure I can always get an external drive to upgrade the RAM, so I'm keeping that low to save. What processors, HD and video cards does everyone recommend? Thank you!
    #1
    2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5
    #2
    2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5
    #3
    2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
    #4
    2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5

    Don't skimp on memory.
    I personally use OWC for almost all of my Mac upgrades, especially memory and SSDs.
    I'd highly recomend getting 16GB. You only have two slots, so it's not like you can add memory, you have to replace memory. I've seen many users post issues with FCP X who simply don't have enough memory.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/1333DDR3S16P/

  • I have a new macBook Pro 15 and need to purchase best, easiest usb for backup - help please

    I have a new MacBook Pro 15" and need to purchase the easiest, cost-effective USB for backup.  I have never done a backup and don't know what to buy.  Thanks much from an obvious novice.

    Look at these two links to OWC products.  Note that one is for enclosures only so an appropriate HDD would have to be added.  This at least should give you an idea of what is available.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/USB2/OWC_Express
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
    Ciao.

  • I am going to buy a macbook pro for grade 12, and I need to know wheather I should get a macbook pro or a macbook pro retina. If someone could tell me (in a very simple way) which one is,better for me and why, I would be ever so apprreciative.

    I am going to buy a macbook pro for grade 12, and I need to know wheather I should get a macbook pro or a macbook pro retina. If someone could tell me (in a very simple way) which one is,better for me and why, I would be ever so apprreciative.

    Why do you need a expensive MacBook Pro?
    Your attending high school and unless everyone else is rich also your likely going to be a target by the more poorer students for theft or damage to the machine.
    You could keep it home, but if you need it for class then your exposed again.
    Also at that age your not very careful yet, a MacBook Pro is a expensive and easily damaged machine.
    Unless your made of money and so are others at your school, I would recommned a low profile, just does the job cheap Windows PC.
    If it dies, gets lost, stolen or damaged because of your inexperince handling senstivie electronics then it's no big deal.
    You can buy a Mac later on when your sure you have a need for it, currently there isn't much advantage of owning a Mac compared to a PC, they do just about the same things now, one just looks prettier than the other.
    Since 95% of the world uses Windows PC's your going to have to install Windows on the Mac in order to keep your skills up there or be unemployed, so it's a extra headache and expense.
    good luck

  • Should I get a 2.0 or 3.0 USB external hard drive for my 2011 Macbook Pro? I need it to be compatible with the USB ports of both a PC and a Mac.

    Should I get a 2.0 or 3.0 USB external hard drive for my 2011 Macbook Pro? I need it to be compatible with the USB ports of both a PC and a Mac. I was thinking of getting a Seagate becuase apparently it is compatible with both systems, but I want to know which would be a better investment.

    Using USB 3 devices on Mac computers FAQ

  • I bought pages application on my Macbook Pro, Do I need to buy again for my ipad, if not, how can I install in my ipadmini

    I bought pages application on my Macbook Pro, Do I need to buy again for my ipad, if not, how can I install in my ipadmini

    RRAF wrote:
    ... Do I need to buy again for my ipad,..
    Yes.
    You need to purchase the iPad Version.

Maybe you are looking for